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From the category archives: Opinions

JOHN CONNELLY

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 5, 2012

Prayer has always held a deep fascination for me. It is a subject that is limitless. What an amazing thing to actually be in contact with God. The God who created and sustains all things. The God who knows us, loves us and calls us by name.

What would happen if we all dedicated our lives to really learning to pray? What would happen if we created authentic schools of prayer for our young people, families and churches?

KATHLEEN GIFFIN

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 29, 2012

One characteristic of this era is the overemphasis and reliance on our own perspective and ability to understand as the means by which we determine what is right and good. It comes, I think, from the natural tendency of the brain to order data, reach conclusions and make judgments based on those conclusions.

Yet if that normal means of understanding reality is not tempered by a humility which acknowledges the limitations in our ability to grasp the fullness of truth, we can end up seriously disoriented.

MARIA KOZAKIEWICZ

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 22, 2012

I love the readings of this Sunday. They are like three wholesome dishes that need to be tasted separately, yet they form one wonderful meal.

First, Jonah, my favourite prophet, warns the people of Nineveh of impending doom and the need for penance. He has little love for the people to whom he brings this message, but he obeys God's command.

RALPH HIMSL

Mary, the Mother of God
November 1, 2011

I have a lament of sorts: with the investment that society has made in the formal education given me, supplemented by decades of experience, travel, mistakes, reading, study and dare I say it, thinking (?), it grieves me that I should know so little.

I see for example, the note in my Sunday Missal that on Jan. 1, we observe the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on this World Day of Prayer for Peace.

JOHN CONNELLY

Christmas
December 25, 2011

Imagine if Jesus were born anew in this world today. Imagine God being a baby in our midst. Imagine the Word Made Flesh here and now. Imagine the greatest light of human history shining in the darkness of our times.

Our world today has many similarities to the time when Jesus was born. Oppression. Fear. Spiritual darkness.

KATHLEEN GIFFIN

Fourth Sunday in Advent
December 18, 2011

There is a pink pencil in the pen holder on my husband's desk. It is 23 years old now, and holds special significance to us because it is the last of those handed out to our friends on the occasion of the birth of our second child.

The days and weeks after her birth were a difficult time for us, for she was diagnosed with a heart defect and Down Syndrome the day she was born. Airlifted to the city, medical interventions, developmental supports, more hospitalizations all followed in the succeeding months.

MARIA KOZAKIEWICZ

Third Sunday in Advent
December 11, 2011

There are few words of Mary, mother of God, preserved in Scripture. She is the quietest of biblical women and although she is Jesus' first and the longest-serving disciple and also the one who stood by him under the cross, we hardly hear her voice.

There is the simple question she asks the angel Gabriel: "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" and then comes her consent: "Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word."

RALPH HIMSL

Second Sunday in Advent
December 4,2011

Some traditions assign particular, how shall I say – virtues to each Sunday in Advent: hope, peace, joy, love for each of the first to the fourth respectively.

Memory tells me that we mark the Third Sunday of Advent as Gaudete Sunday, quite in line with the tradition. As Catholics, we have a leaning toward historical roots that prefer Latin for an idea when we wish to assign it a special elegance. So we refer to the Third Sunday of Advent as Gaudete Sunday, always with the explanation, "Gaudete means rejoice".

JOHN CONNELLY

1st Sunday in Advent
November 27, 2011

Advent is a season of waiting. So we wait. We wait for the day when Jesus will set all things right. We wait for the day when love, mercy and justice will prevail. We wait for the day when the fruits of our faith will be manifest for all to see.

It is hard to wait. It is hard to see and feel the pain in this passing world. But it is precisely in this state of imperfect existence that we learn the most important lesson.